Two rumours have been circulating in the Fort Nelson area for several weeks and while we have communicated with some of you about these, we understand that the gossip persists. The rumours are false. BC Hydro is in Fort Nelson to stay and we are committed to our customers.

1. Line CrewOur line crew will continue to be headquartered in Fort Nelson – that is not changing. On several occasions over the past year we have temporarily assigned the crew to Fort St John where additional support is required. Our plan is to continue directing the line crew to Fort St John from time to time as work volumes increase. They may be away for as long as three weeks, but they will return to Fort Nelson on weekends. In the event of a power outage in Fort Nelson, a BC Hydro crew or contractor will always respond immediately from Fort St John. Yes, that means a longer response time of about five hours, but only on days the crew is out of town. At this time, crews will remain in Fort Nelson during the winter months. We appreciate that keeping the crew in Fort Nelson is like an insurance policy and provides peace of mind to our customers. Thankfully, we have a high level of reliable electrical service in Fort Nelson – quite literally, the power is on 99.9% of the time.

2. Fort Nelson Generating StationBC Hydro is not planning to shut down Fort Nelson Generating Station. At this time, we are not aware of any imminent change to the gas supply for the facility. We are aware of a transaction of the neighbouring Fort Nelson Gas Processing Plant and will maintain the existing agreements that provide services to our facility.

I hope this helps to stop rumours about our future in Fort Nelson. We are here to stay.